Bickford's Sarsaparilla—Contender #11

Ah, the end of a long day drinking sarsaparilla. There's no better way to unwind at the end of such a day than to relax with a ... sarsaparilla. And that is exactly what I have done. It's been an unusual kind of day. Never before have I been so interested in what I drink. Never before has my wife wanted to taste my drinks with me. It's also been interesting to discover that there can be so much difference between the sarsaparilla varieties out there.

And I've only found fifteen varieties!

The final sarsaparilla I tried today was the Bickford's Sarsaparilla. This is another entry in the Glass Bottle category and another entry with over 100 years experience. The main thing I'm discovering with the old recipe contenders is that they tend to be the richer sarsaparilla flavours. Bickford's is no exception to that rule. Perhaps so much so that it is almost too sarsaparilla.

I never thought I'd say that.

Bickford's is probably the richest flavour I've tasted to date. If you're a big fan of big flavour, this is probably the drink for you. Personally, I felt it was too rich. For my liking there is a fine line between flavour and beverage. This one focussed too much on the flavour making the beverage slightly more difficult to handle.

Having said that, this is by no means a contender at the bottom of my list. I would much rather have too much sarsaparilla than not enough. This is definitely not one of the contenders that focuses on the sugary sweetness to get it through. No, this is a contender that is using a recipe that has done it well for many a year and is proud to continue to deliver its flavour packed product to sarsaparilla fans out there. It's just sadly too much for me.

Maybe I'm not the sarsaparilla fan I thought I was. Maybe ...